SIDNEY -- The Historic Preservation Board needs direction, and if the community wants historic preservation.

Historic Preservation Board member Vicky Loghry addressed the Sidney City Council Tuesday. She asked the council if the Historic Preservation Board still has value in the community.

"There seems to be a question that doesn't stop to be asked at almost every meeting. But, more than any of these things, we need to start at the very, very beginning: does history matter? Does the community want to see historic preservation done? Is that something we're still interested in or is it past its usefulness?" Vicky Loghry said before the city council. 

She describes the board as in a carrousel, doing the same things over and over.

"In order for change to happen, there has to be change," she said. 

She said an example is the Board's Tuesday discussion of boundaries, boundaries of the Downtown Historic District and the Expanded Downtown Historic District.

"The example at the meeting was boundary issues. We have an ordinance, I feel like we have an ordinance, that was set out in 2014 that says what you believe our boundaries to be as a city council. Then, there's a discussion that usually will flow into that 'well, what about the extended boundaries?' I don't know where these extended boundaries live. I believe they live in a resolution some place. But then that brings up the play of how do I know what resolution, how do I know when what resolution? How long are resolutions in effect? How would I know specifically what resolutions are out there if they're not published? So, we're trying to get to the understanding of why we have to keep asking the same questions at every meeting," she said.

There is also the concern of where to find documentation on historic buildings, meeting minutes and statutes defining the District.

The Historic Preservation Board meets at noon the second Tuesday of each month at City Hall.

The Sidney Historic Preservation handbook, last updated in 2022, is available on the Historic Preservation Board page of the City's website. There is also a map of the Downtown Historic District, and the Expanded Downtown Historic District.

https://www.cityofsidney.org/DocumentCenter/View/1816/Handbook-July-2022?bidId=

https://www.cityofsidney.org/302/Historic-Downtown-Sidney